Swiveling headlight



I y April 20, 1926.

1,581,253 w. H. wAKFER swIvELING VHrsmmsmr Filed Jan. 19, 1925- 2 `Sheets-Sl'met 2 Patented Apr. 20, 1926.

S T A T 1,581,253 PATENT orifice.

WILLIAM aunar Waarna, or souTir Noawoon, ENGLAND, assieu'oa To THE con SWiEVELING Application filed January To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WYILLIAM Humm' Vinurnn, a subject oi the Kingv ot Great Britain, ot No. 6T VVhitWorth Road, South. Norwood, in the county ot Surrey, Eng;-` land7 have invented'y certainV nevv and useful Improvements in,` Siviveling: Headlights, oi' which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to swiveling.- head lights tor steerable vehicles. and is particu.- larly concerned With that type of; mechanism in which flexible. connections. are providedy between the stems of the swiveling lamps and the steering gear ot the vehicle. in such.

" ay manner that the steeringoil the. vehicle. to

therightor tothe left effects the swiveling.. of one Vor' other onlyv oi the head lamps, the .other head lamp.' remaining in the normal or line: ahead position.v

The principalobject of. the inventionis toV provide arrangements in which the flexible connections are always tensioned and areV not permitted to slacken; during the. steering. and lamp swiveling operations.. 1

A Jiturther object is to. provide: simple and eiiicient mechanisms, of. Vthe kind in question, capable of being applied readily to existing automobile constructions.`

, Yet another object is tofadapt'fmechanism.

ot the kind referred to whereby adjustments.

. inthe amplitude of lamp sWiveling may be easily adjusted. to produce a desi-red amplitube of swing` in any given circumstance. i

Finally, an object .ot the inventionis to enable the mechanism to be adapted. with facility for service on an automobile having the steering bar or rod` either at the front of or in the rear of the front axle.

These and other objects Will: appear from the description hereinafter given with reference to drawings forming part ofV this specification, in which. drawingss- Figure lis perspective vieivoi2 an arrangement comprising a resilient iiexible connection between the lamps on the two.

. sides, the said connection being always in tension and serving for keeping the lamps normally in the. line ahead' 'position and for returning a swiveiedlamp to that. posi.-

' tion at the conclusion of a steering operation.

Figuren 2 is a diagram illustrating another mode. of operating thelam'ps for swiveling one oi them during a steering operation; in one direction and the. otheuof them. during a steeringv operation, the` opposite; (iti,-vv

ImCTA LIoiIT- COMPANY LIMITED, or LONDON', ENGLAND', A BRITISH COMPANY.

HEADLIGHT.

1s, 1925. serial No. 3,396.

`rection, the means. for returning the lamps to the normal position being similar to those illustrated in Figure 1.

li'gure:y is a diagram similar to Figure 2 but in Figure. 3 thev steering bai-is in. front of the. 'front axle. instead of being as in Figure 2', behind: the front axle. Moreover, Figure 3 shows afmodiiied means. for returning. the lamps tothe normal position after; a: steering operation.. y

` Fig-une 4 is.V a perspective. view of. an arrangement. correspondingv with Figure 3 as Hregards; they eperation. olf. the' lamps but. the lmeans for returning the lamps to normal position.` after; al steering. operationv are similar to those' illustrated-fin Figures 1 and 2. Y Referring; to Figure. l, a is the front axle' of. a motor road vehicle hav/ing.' the .usualy knuckle: joints. b for 'pivotal'ly connecting thereto the trunnion. Vaxles on `which the steeringwvhee-ls are mounted. The. trunnion` supports which. maybe oi any suitable type mounted on. any suitable part of the vehicle. For example, the lamps` have depending stems 7c which may pass through holes. or bearings in brackets or supports Z on the chassis. secured, ashereinater described, stop arms mi and operating arms n. In the example illustrated,v` the. armsv m and n are formed integrally ony a common hub which is secured to the stems If: Vso as to be capable oi ad-` justment angularly or axially ot such'stems, but they need not necessarily ybe so mounted. TheV topy of .the 'saidhub' is engaged by an auxiliary bracket leaf. Z1; VThe ends of the' arms m may be covered by sleeves of rubber or' other anti-concussive materiali.. Or other. buffering means may be adopted flor' the sake of silencev and'avoidance ot Wear. rEhe lamps; h h-l mayv be mounted in the positions Shown, orV they may. be mounted with theirv stems Isf direct-ly over and in vertical arl-ignment with the'.4 pivot axes oi" the trunnion axles c;

'l The arm ai of' the, lam-p h. which is on the leftf haiiidfside of the vehicle iis connected with. the.A arm d at the right hand `Sfida: by mea-,WS 'ai a .fiexible Gerd Q13- wle' v On the stems ,7c there are or by means of an elastic connection such a spring or cord or wire lengt-h in which a spring is inserted, This connection is shown as being made with the pivot connection between the steering arm l and the s eering bar c, but such connection can be made at any suitable position on the steering arm or end portion ot the steering bar' c. rfhe arm n of the lamp h1 on the right hand side of the vehicle is similarly connected by a cord, Wire or the like p1 with the arm (Z or bar e at or towards the leiit hand side et the vehicle.

li' the vehicle is steered to the left, the motion of the opposite arm (Z 'towards the right hand side sets up a pull on the cord or wire p which, being transmitted to the arm a at the left hand side causes the stem 7J or the lett hand lamp 7a. to turn so that the lamp ii. follows the steering wheels in their lei'tward turning. The turning motion of the arm d on the le l't hand side is towards the lamp 71,1 on the right hand side and consequentl y the wire or cord p1 simply slackens and the lamp /Ll remains in line ahead position, as will be readily understood. li the vehicle be steered to the right, it will be apparent that the cord p1 will be pulled for turning the lamp 72,1 rigl'itwardly, the cord p being meanwhile slackened and having` no ellect upon the lamp L which remains in the line ahead position. The arms n may be perforated at different points, as shown, tor the connect-ion thereof with the cords p p1. This allows the effective length of the arms to be altered so that the angle through which the lamps are turned can be varied merely by atta ching the cords at the dil'lierent points.

At the lower ends of the stems 7c of the lamps there are secured short arms or lugs Q ot any appropriate form and the lug g on one side is connected With the lug g on the other side of the vehicle by means ot a cord, wire or rod r which includes a tension spring s. Vlhis connection and the tension of the spring s therein serves for keeping the stops m oi the two lamps hard against the bracket parts Z and thereby maintaining the lamps in the line ahead position when no steering is heilig done. The spring s also serves to return each lamp to the line ahead position at the conclusion of a swiveling operation.

Naturally the arms, such as the arms n, need not be on the lamp stems but may be lixed on pins or vertical spindles operatively connected with the lamp stems. Thus, it' desired, two lamps at each side of the vehicle may be turned by the mechanism instead ot' one only. Also in vehicles which steer from the rear axle such transmission from the arms n to the lamp stems may be necessary.

In Figure l the steering bar e is arranged behind the front axle a but it will be understood, Without special description that similar mechanism could, be adopted. with obvious modiiications for operating the lamps in the manner described in those car constructions in which the steering bar e is in front of the axle al.

In Figure 2 parts similar to those seen in Figure i are indicated by the same reference characters as are employed in Figure l. In this modification, the arms n are engaged by abutments z5 l secured on a connection u extending from one steering arm Z to the other. The arms n may be slotted in the horizontal plane or formed with eyes Jor the connector u. to pass through and it will be observed that the abutment t lies against the outer edge oit the lett hand arm n and that the abutment t1 lies against the outer edge ot' the right hand arm n.. It the vehicle is steered to the right hand, the arms Z swing to the dotted line position and the connector u is carried bodily transversely of the vehicle, the abutment t1 pressing leftivardly against the right hand arm n and swiveling the right hand lamp. The transverse movement of the connector u, however, simply carries the abutment t away from the lett hand arm n so that the left hand lamp remains in the line ahead position. The swiveling of the right hand lamp effects an extension of the spring s as already described with reference to Figure il, and the extended spring will subsequently effect the return or" the right hand lamp to the line ahead position. Steering to the left with consequent swiveling of the left hand lamp and stationary condition of the right hand lamp will be apparent Without further description. ln Figure 2, the stop arms m ot Figure l are replaced by stop pins e lying in the paths of respective arms n as will be readily understood from the drawing. ln the connector a which may be of cord, wire, rod or the like, there is inserted tension spring al which keeps the connector u taut so that there is no sagging and no likelihood ol" this connector fouling any of the parts of the steering gear or other mechanism of the vehicle. lt desired of course the spring may be inserted non-centrally of the connector and more than one spring may be employed.

lfn Figure 3, the steering bar e being disposed lforwardly of the front axle u instead of in the rear thereof as in Figure Q, it is necessary for the abutments i #l on the con nector u to be arranged in contact with the' inner edges of respective arms a instead of with the outer edges ot such arms as described with reference to Figure 2. ln this modification, the cross spring` connection` common to the two lamps for returning each ot them to the normal line ahead position, is dispensed with and in place thereof each ol'A the arms n. is connected with any suital'ilc point on the chassis by a spring connection indicated by the line fu. These spring counections normally hold the arms n against lli) the stop pins -v and maintain the lamps in the line ahead position, the appropriate one being extended when swiveling takes place and returning its lamp to normal at the conclusion of a swiveling operation. j

In Figure et, the cross connector 7- has two short springs s1 inserted in it near respectiveI ends and isr connected between the arms u for holding the latter normally against their respective stop pins o to maintain the lamps in the line ahead position. Also, the steering arms l andcross bar ce being forwards of the front axle, as in Figur-e 3, the abutments z5 t1 are arranged to .engage with the inner edges of respective arms a. This figure shows clearly the slotting of the arms n in the horizontal plane for the connector u to pass through. As the arms n will usually be at a higher elevation than the steering arms d, it is advantageous to provided slotted arm attachments a; for the arms (l and upsta-nding pins or pillars'g/ adjustably fixed on the attachments ai and serving as anchoringr means for the ends of the connector u. lt will be observed that the slotted arms la are perforated at a number of points at dif operation. Or the pillars y maybe adjusted.

to a fixed position and thereafter changes in the amplitude of swiveling may be effected.

by altering the position of the pins aforesaid along the slotted arms a so as to cause the.`

connector u to operate nearer to or farther from the pivot axes of the lamp stems as will be readily understood from Figure et.,

Thus, the tensioned cross connector of these improvements, whether employed for operating the lamps, or for maintaining them iu normal position and returning them thereto, or for both of these purposes, provides an exceedingly simple means which is always taut and can never foul operative parts.

l claim l. Swiveling lamp mechanism of theflrind described for steerable vehicles comprisingr in combination swiveling lamp supports, lever arms on said supports said arms being adapted for the free passage of transmission means a resilient member situated in said transmission means and adapted for constantly Vmaintaining' said transmission means in tension, and abutments on said transmistending to maintain said lamp supports 1n normal position substantially as set forth.

n 3. Swiveling lamp mechanism of the kind described for steerable vehicles comprising iny combination swiveling lamp supports, a tensioned flexible connector, attachment de'- vices for said connector said devices being adj ustably mounted on the arms ofthe steering gear, abutments secured on `said oonnector in operative relation with respective lamp supports, and resilient means constantly tending to maintain said lamp supports in normal position'substantially as set forth'.

4. Swiveling lamp mechanism of the kind described for steerable.A vehicles comprising in combination swiveling lamp supports slotted lever arms on said supports, a tensioned flexible connector passing Vfreely through said slotted arms, attachment devices for said connector said atttachment devices being mountable upon arms of the steering gear, abutments secured on said connector in operative relation with lever arms of respective lamp supports, adjustable guide devices mounted in said lever arms and adapted for guiding the passage of the connector at pre-determined distances from the swiveling axes, and resilient means constantly tending to maintain said lamp supports in normalposition substantially as described.

5. Swiveling lamp mechanism of the kind ldescribed for steerable vehicles comprising in combination swiveling lamp supports, slotted lever arms on said supports, a tensioned iiexible lconnector passing freely through said slotted arms, attachment devices for said connector said attachment devices being mountable on arms of the steering gear, adjustments adapted for adjusting saidattachment devices towards or from the pivots of the steering arms, abutments secured on said connector in operative relation.

with lever arms of respective lamp supports, adjustable guide devices mounted on said lever arms and adapted for guiding the passage of the connector at pre-determined distances from the swiveling aXes, and resilient means constantly tending to maintain said lamp supports in normal position substan tially as set forth.

` llU-LLIAM, HENRY WAKFER@ 

